The Game
by KateDevlin
Summary: Another coven of vampires has come looking for Bella, but this time it's for pure entertainment. What happens when Jessica and Mike become part of their game too?
1. Prologue

This is a revised version of my original story The Game that I've decided to start up again. I wasn't really happy with the way it was written, or where the plot was going, so I've decided to start over. I hope you all enjoy!

Prologue

Jessica's POV

Even after almost two years, I couldn't get over the fact that he had chosen her, of all people. It's pretty obvious to everyone in this town that he is just too perfect. He's too perfect for any of us, even me (thought I would die before admitting that to anyone). He's obviously the most gorgeous guy in all of Forks, maybe all of Washington. He's smart and talented and charming. And Bella is…Bella. Dull, plain Bella. I'm prettier than her, that's obvious. I just don't understand what she has that I don't.

Mike's POV

It was nice to be able to spend the evening with Bella, alone, without any interference from either Jessica or Cullen. I mean, I like Jess, in a way, but she's no Bella. I still can't understand why she chose Edward. That guy is just plain weird. I don't care if he's the hottest guy around (chicks' words, not mine) or that he can speak, like, eight languages. There's something bizarre about him, but every girl in this hell-hole still treats him like he's some Greek God. Maybe that's it. I mean, no normal human looks that way. Maybe he isn't human. Or maybe I'm just being an idiot. Wishful thinking, I guess. I mean, Bella wouldn't be into him if he weren't at least somewhat normal.

Bella's POV

Is it weirder that I am marrying a vampire or that the fact that I am marrying a vampire doesn't really faze me anymore? The life I've chosen for myself just feels so normal sometimes that I forget what I am actually doing. Sometimes I wonder what my friends would actually think if they really knew what my life was like. I don't really want to share it with any of them, though. I guess I'm just a little selfish in that way. But it doesn't really matter anyway. None of would ever know. None of them _could_ ever know.


	2. Chapter 1

Just a little background information: this story takes place after Eclipse; after Bella and Edward's high school graduation but before their wedding. Jacob, upset about their upcoming nuptials, has taken time to come to terms with what is about to happen, and returns to Forks seeking Bella's forgiveness and to give her his blessing on the wedding.

Author's Note: I know that Jacob and the wolves actions are a little OOC, but it is how I envisioned this story. Plus, I really love Edward and can't ever see Bella and Jacob together.

Chapter 1

Bella's POV

"Are you sure you don't want to come over tonight? We're probably just going to order pizza and watch a movie or something," Mike asked me for what seemed like (and very well could be) the hundredth time. His parents were out of town for the week, and Mike was using every available opportunity to take advantage of the empty house.

"No, but thanks for the invitation," I said, hoping that he would finally get the picture. For some reason, even with a ring on my finger, Mike still thought he had a chance to make our friendship into something more. It was getting to be beyond frustrating. It was starting to get infuriating.

"Okay, well if you change your mind, we will definitely be there. You don't even have to let me know you're coming. Just stop by." I didn't really respond to that, just gave him a look that I hope conveyed everything I felt at that moment. "Well, there isn't a whole lot left to do here," he said when he realized I wasn't going to give him another response. "You can go. I'll finish closing everything up."

"Really?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't really sure that he would actually let me leave, but I didn't wait to find out. I grabbed my purse and started walking toward the door before he could answer the rhetorical question.

"Yeah," he said to my retreating back. "I'll see you later…maybe?"

I just shook my head as I exited the building, digging through my purse to try and find my keys and the phone that Edward insisted I carry with me. I looked at the screen, hoping that he had called or texted, but was severely disappointed when there was nothing. He and his siblings had been hunting in Northern California for the past three days, and they were supposed to come home later tonight. It was the longest three days of my life. I was almost to my car when I heard a voice that I desperately wanted to ignore.

"Hey, Bella," Jessica said, her nasally voice making me cringe.

"Hi Jess," I said as I unlocked my car. Unfortunately she had parked directly next to me, and was currently less than five feet away from me and my car. It seemed like there was no relief from these obnoxious people whom I was readily willing to never see again.

"How's your summer so far?" she asked. I had really hoped to avoid this conversation, but it seemed unavoidable.

"It's great. Nothing too exciting going on." That wasn't entirely true, but I couldn't exactly tell her than only a few weeks prior my future vampire family and my werewolf friends had decimated an entire army of newborn vampires that had been created in order to destroy me. Yeah, I didn't really think she needed to know of my uncanny ability to attract ravenous vampires.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true. Don't you have a wedding coming up?" she asked with an abnormal amount of curiosity. Jessica was one of those girls who usually only enjoyed talking about herself. I assumed, however, that since my upcoming nuptials were the most popular topic of gossip in Forks at the moment, she would be all too willing to pry whatever information she could get from me.

"Yeah," I admitted, "but I'm not really doing a whole lot of the planning. You would get more information from Alice." I hoped that this would dissuade her from asking anymore questions.

No such luck. "I highly doubt that," Jessica said. "There must be something you are doing that you're excited about."

"Not really. What about you? How is your summer going?" I hadn't really wanted to ask the question, but seeing as it was the only way to keep her from prying even further into my life, I was willing to open the floodgates. And that is exactly what happened.

It was obvious that Jessica wasn't as private about her life, considering I was forced to listen for the next ten minutes every detail of her summer. It was only the beginning of July, but she had apparently already planned out her next four years at college.

I let out a conspicuous sigh of relief when I finally saw Edward's name flash across the screen of my phone. I excused myself from the conversation, Jessica in midsentence, so that I could take the call.

"Edward," I said, knowing he would understand the relief in my voice.

"Bella, he said. I could hear the urgency in his voice when he said my name, but I had no idea why he would have any reason to be alarmed. We were finally safe, for the first time in a long time. Leave it to Edward to always see the possibility of danger even when it's completely unfounded. "The pack came across a scent they didn't recognize. Jake and Sam are in the woods trying to see if they can find anything. Please…"

I didn't hear anything else that Edward said. _Jake and Sam are in the woods_…

For the first time in our relationship, I hung up on Edward. "Jessica, sorry but I have to go," I said quickly, truly irritated now with her incessant chatter.

"Um, okay. I guess I will see you later…" she trailed off as I stalked away in the opposite direction, away from my car and into the woods. "Bella?" I could hear her say my name faintly, but I wasn't really paying attention. All I wanted to so find him. "Bella, what the hell are you doing?" I ignored her desperate calls as I walked into the forest.

I don't know how far I walked, but I knew I needed to get far enough away from Jessica so that she wouldn't find me, though I highly doubted she would follow me into the woods. I guess I had been walking for around five minutes when I found a small clearing.

"Jacob Black," I said in my normal voice. "You get your ass out here right now." I knew he could hear me. If he were actually in the woods like Edward had said, he had probably been watching my little exchange with Jessica the whole time. I waited for a few more minutes before I noticed a rustling in the brush directly across from me. It took another few moments, but eventually I saw a very familiar shape emerge into the clearing.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mike's POV

"Hey Jess," I said as I walked out the door and locked it. "Are you ready to go?" I didn't really notice the worried look on her face before, but I definitely noticed it now. She looked like she was about to throw up. "Are you okay?" I asked from a distance. If she really was going to hurl, I didn't want to be in the line of fire.

"No! It's Bella! She went into the woods and I don't know what to do. There have been reports that the wolves are back, and she just went like it was nothing. What do we do?"

I could barely register what Jessica had said. _Bella was in the woods_. _Alone_. I didn't say anything, just grabbed Jessica's arm as I made my way in the direction that she had pointed to earlier.

"Mike? Mike, what the hell are you doing? I don't want to go in there. Maybe we should call someone…" I didn't really hear anything she said. I just kept going.

We walked about a quarter mile before I heard Bella's voice. "Jacob Black, you get your ass out here right now." Why would Jacob Black be in the woods too? Were they both crazy? I realized how hypocritical that statement was, considering I was now in the middle of nowhere as well.

"What are you doing Mike?" Jessica whispered next to me. We hadn't made it known to Bella that we were standing right behind her.

"I just wanted to make sure she was safe," I said. In all honesty, I wasn't entirely sure why I had felt the need to put both Jessica and I in this strange and dangerous position. Maybe it was because I was worried about Bella. Or maybe it was because I wanted to prove to her that I could be a hero too.

"You wanted to make sure that she was safe, so you put us both in danger? Awesome. Thanks, I really appreciate it," she said sarcastically.

"Let's just wait a few minutes to make sure she's okay. Once Jacob gets here we can go." I didn't really want to think of letting another guy keep Bella safe, but I was actually starting to get scare myself. It was really dark where we were, and I wasn't too fond of the forest in the first place.

We waited for another minute or so when we saw the bushes across from Bella start to move. I felt Jessica freeze as we both waited to see what was coming. I had no idea if it was this Jacob guy or something else, but I prayed that it was the former.

It took me a minute to fully digest what was happening once the source of the rustling revealed itself. What scared me more than the huge wolf standing in the clearing, however, was Bella's reaction to the deadly animal. Instead of running away, screaming, she just looked pissed. Beyond pissed. She was livid.

"Jacob Black, how could you do that to me? You've been gone for over a month!" she yelled. What the hell was she doing? Why was she calling this animal Jacob? I'd met Jacob before and this definitely wasn't him. Had she completely lost her mind?

Beside me, Jessica was just as bewildered as I was. We both stood perfectly still, not wanting to either interrupt the moment or get the wolf's attention. I was completely at a loss. Why the hell was she talking to this thing like a person? I was seriously starting to worry for her sanity, but I still didn't know what to do. I didn't want to leave Bella alone with it, but I didn't want to put myself or Jessica in any more danger than we already were.

Suddenly, to my complete horror, the wolf snapped it's head up. It was looking directly at us.

"Oh shit," I head Jessica say under her breath. "Can we run now?"

"Um, yeah," I said, grabbing her arm and turning around, ready to sprint off into the direction we came from. I knew, however, that we were no match for the massive animal. It could probably get to where we were in one jump. Before we could take a single step, however, we realized that our path was blocked by someone. It was a woman, and she was beautiful. I was momentarily transfixed by how incredibly gorgeous she was, and for a second I completely forgot that we were in mortal danger. She had a head full of platinum blonde hair, and her hair almost sparkled in the moonlight. Her luscious lips were almost the exact same color red as her eyes. Wait, that couldn't be right. Why would she have red eyes?

Before I could comprehend the fact that her eyes were indeed a deep crimson color, I was distracted by a scream that came from the clearing. I turned my head slightly, to see where it came from, but my view of Bella was blocked by the giant wolf that was flying toward us at an alarming rate. I knew, even in the split second that I had, that there was no way we would be able to get out of the way in time.

I pushed Jessica in a hopeless attempt to put her out of the path of the animal, and it was then that she started screaming. I felt the impact of the wolf's massive form against my shoulder, and I knew that I was done. The last thing I remembered was looking at the rock on the ground that was coming perilously close to my head and the voices that began to fade away as everything turned to black.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jessica's POV

I couldn't find my voice as I watched in helpless horror the giant animal flying toward me. Mike's weak shove finally brought me back to reality, and the scream that had been building in my chest finally found its way out. He managed to put me out of the wolf's path, and I stumbled out of the way as he was thrown to the ground by the animal's giant form. I was sure that he was going to take a chunk out of us, or out of that woman that had been standing there only moments before.

But now, they were both gone. Next to me, Mike lay on the ground, unconscious and bleeding. I looked over to Bella, who was frozen in the middle of the clearing, her eyes wide. We stared at each for a few moments, though neither one of us said anything. I think we were both in shock.

"Bella?" a voice said from the edge of the clearing. Bella turned slowly in the direction of the voice, and choked back a sob when she saw who was there.

"Esme," she said, her voice full of relief. I realized then that the woman was Dr. Cullen's wife. Before I could even register than the woman had moved, she was next to Bella, who had started to collapse.

"Oh sweetheart," Mrs. Cullen said, holding Bella tightly so she didn't fall to the ground. "What on earth happened?"

"I don't know," Bella sobbed. "Edward said Jake was in the woods and so I came out to see him and there was a woman and Jessica and Mike were here and I've ruined everything," she babbled, her voice barely recognizable due to the hiccups that came every few seconds.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Cullen said, as she glanced at me and my fallen companion. "It will all be okay darling, just breathe. Edward is on his way. You are safe."

"I know I'm safe," Bella wailed into her future mother-in-laws shoulder. "But what have I done?"

I was entirely confused. She wasn't scared about the wolf or almost being killed (which I assumed, was the case). She was scared because of something else.

"We will figure it all out," she said as she stroked the girl's hair. "But now we need to get out of the woods. Can you walk with your friend back to the parking lot?"

Bella sniffed and pulled her face away from Mrs. Cullen's shoulder. "Wait," I said, finding my voice. "We can't just leave Mike here." Although part of me really didn't care at the moment.

"Of course not, honey," Mrs. Cullen said sweetly. "Don't you worry about it. Just go back with Bella. I will take care of him." I saw Bella glance at her anxiously.

"Are you sure you'll be okay Esme?" Bella asked anxiously. They both looked in Mike's direction, where a pool of blood had begun to form under his unmoving body.

"Yes, don't worry about me," Mrs. Cullen said, though I could sense something different in her voice. Fear? Anxiety? I wasn't entirely sure.

Bella paused hesitantly before walking in my direction. She looked back again at the small woman, worry etched onto her face. After a moment, however, she breathed out what sounded like a sigh. "Okay, Jess. Let's go."

I was all too willing to get out of there, so I led the way. We had only gone a few steps, however, before my urge to look back at Mike took hold. When I glanced over my shoulder, I was shocked at what I saw: Mrs. Cullen, a woman no bigger than Bella or myself, was carrying Mike with perfect ease. Or what looked like perfect ease. Her face showed serious strain, though her body indicated nothing of the sort. I frowned, but decided that I would rather get out of the forest before demanding an explanation.

The walk back to the parking lot took a lot less time than the trip into the forest. As soon as we set foot on the welcoming pavement, a familiar silver car squealed into the driveway. Following behind Edward's Volvo was a bright red BMW, and after that, a black Mercedes. Bella's pace quickened as she noticed the cars come into view, though I stopped where I was.

The engine of the silver car hadn't even died down before Edward was at Bella's side, her face between his worried hands. Alice was out soon after, though she paused as she got out of the car, a strange expression on her face. Everybody was moving so fast, I was starting to get a headache. One moment Rosalie was inside the car, and the next she was also at Bella's side. And I swear that I saw Emmett and Jasper in the cars, but two seconds later, they were nowhere to be seen.

I stayed silent as I watched the scene play out in front of me. Dr. Cullen had taken Mike from his wife's arms, and was already placing him gently in the back of his black Mercedes. Esme, who had been previously dresses in a light cardigan, now wore only a thin camisole, despite the fact that it was barely sixty degrees outside. Alice was no longer standing next to Edward's car, but was instead standing at the edge of the parking lot, looking directly into the blackness of the forest.

Nobody even noticed me standing there. I was frozen, unsure as to what I should do. I took an unsure step in Bella's direction, but was caught off guard by the piercing sound of a wolf's howl, which caused me to jump three feet in the air. I saw every look in the direction of the forest, and then back to Edward, as if he held the key to something.

"We need to go," he said, breaking the eerie silence that had come over the group. Alice turned around quickly, grabbing my arm without any explanation.

"Where are we going?" I asked she dragged me toward Rosalie's red car. Nobody spoke, they just moved silently, like ghosts, to wherever they knew they should be. I watched from the corner of my eye as Edward half dragged, half carried Bella to his own car. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen were already pulling away from the parking lot, with Mike in the back seat. Rosalie had also disappeared, just like Emmett and Jasper. "Wait," I said desperately, my throat dry. "Wait, where are we going?"

Alice looked at me, concern etched across her perfect, pixie-like features. "I'm taking you back to our place. I promise, I will explain everything later. Just trust me."

Her eyes bore into mine. I did trust her, though I had a strange feeling that I shouldn't.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Bella's POV

The car ride back to Edward's house was uncomfortably silent. I couldn't tell if he was scared or upset or nervous. He just sat there, driving, without saying a word. He wouldn't even look at me.

I stared out the window into the darkness. Every once in a while, I would see the familiar shape of a wolf break out from the trees, but it would retreat too quickly for me to recognize who it was. I knew they were probably all out there, once again protecting me from their mortal enemies, knowing that their life was the one that I had chosen.

I looked in the rearview mirror to the car behind us, where Jessica sat paralyzed in the passenger seat. I could only imagine what was going through her head at the moment. I wondered if she had already figured it out. If she hadn't she would know soon enough. I didn't even want to think about the consequences of exposing her to my world. The consequences to my knowing about Edward's existence were hard to forget: my impending immortality was only weeks away.

We made it to the Cullen's home in record time. I didn't even complain about how often Edward's lead foot crept into the triple digits. He parked the Volvo closer to the house than normal, so that we would have to enter through the garage rather than the front door. I knew this was so that we wouldn't be outside for too long. As if it mattered. No amount of deadbolts or bulletproof glass could stop a vampire from entering the house.

Alice parked next to us, and helped a visually shaken Jessica from the car. I glanced briefly at the image of my best friend, my soon-to-be real sister, leading Jessica into the garage. I reached for the door handle, but Edward had already gotten to my side of the car.

"Thank you," I said quietly as he held the door open for me. I accepted his offered hand for assistance and pulled myself from the vehicle.

He said nothing, just looked at me for a few moments before letting go of my hand. He had been gone for three days, and yet his eyes were as black as night. I vaguely recognized the strangled cry that came from my throat when I saw this.

The moment he recognized the pain that had come across my face, his gaze softened. His set jaw, tense from stress, relaxed as he whispered words of comfort.

"I am so sorry Bella," he said, and in a moment, I was in his arms. "I should have been there to protect you. I am so sorry."

Though he was infinitely stronger than I was, he still let me pull myself from his iron embrace. "Don't apologize," I said, wiping a fallen tear from my face. "You didn't know what was going to happen. I'm the one that should be apologizing right now.

His strong hands clutched my shoulders harder than normal, indicating the anxiety he felt at the moment. "You have no need to apologize either. You've done nothing wrong. Please, believe me when I say we will fix this."

He wrapped his arms around me once again, and I found comfort in the familiar scent that radiated off of him as I buried my face in his chest. "What's going on?" I asked softly. He knew more than he was letting on, that much I knew. Whether or not he would actually give it up to me, I had yet to find out.

I could feel his internal struggle as him arms cradled me, protecting me from whatever lay outside the confines of his family's garage. He brushed his lips against my hair, a reassuring gesture. He was there to protect me. "I don't know," he said, his voice taught.

I pulled my face away from his chest slightly so that I could look him in the eye. He turned his face, avoiding eye contact. "You're lying," I said.

He sighed, defeated. Apparently he didn't feel like putting up a fight tonight. "I don't know much," he revised, looking me in the eye this time. "The wolves were unable to catch the woman, but she was close enough to the forest that I could hear her thoughts for a few seconds. She is with two others, though I couldn't get a clear mental picture of who they are. Apparently, she came to Forks for the sole purpose of finding you. I don't know why, and I don't know how she found out about you. But, now that there are three humans under the protection under a powerful coven, they are even more interested."

I looked at him in confusion. "I don't understand," I said.

His grip on me tightened. "Don't you see? You're their game. You're the most interesting game they've ever played."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jessica's POV

I spent the entire car ride shaking in anxious anticipation. I knew something bad was happening. I could tell by Alice's maniacal driving and the strange look that would come across her face every few minutes. But I held my tongue, even though there were a thousand questions to be asked.

I had been to the Cullen's home before; once, for their graduation party. It had been decorated that night, twinkle lights and streamers dripping from available corner, a visible symbol at the joy we all felt at actually graduating from high school. Tonight, however, it was different. Few lights adorned the exterior of the home, and the cloudy sky hid the natural moonlight from illuminating any more than the outline of the massive building. It was really, really, creepy.

We pulled into the driveway only seconds after Bella and Edward, but Alice had me out of the car and in the house long before they had even exited their own vehicle. I didn't even glance behind me as we made our way in through the garage and into the living room. The interior of their house was beautiful, just as I had remembered, but I couldn't really bring myself to appreciate any of the décor or expensive furniture that was scattered purposefully around the room.

"Make yourself at home," Alice said, leaving me alone in the center of the living room.

"Wait," I croaked out, "When are you going to tell me what's going on?"

She looked at me nervously. "I think I should wait until everyone else gets here. Carlisle and Edward can probably explain better than I could anyway." I sighed, not really knowing whether or not I should put up a fight. She danced gracefully up her family's spiral staircase, but stopped midway. "Can you do me a favor though?" she asked.

I just looked at her, not responding. I wasn't going to agree to anything without knowing exactly what was going on. "Can you just wash your hands. The bathroom is right through there," she said, pointing toward an empty hallway.

It was a strange request, but I did as I was asked. Not before I looked down to see why she had asked me to do such a thing, however. Light scrapes dusted my palms, but they were covered with dirt from falling down when Mike had shoved me. I wasn't bleeding profusely, but one of the scrapes had cut deep enough to produce a light red streak across my left palm. I scrubbed my hands, getting off all of the dirt and leaves and blood. I looked through the medicine cabinet to see if I could find a band-aid, but was slightly surprised when I found it almost completely empty, save for an extra bottle of hand soap.

I dried my hands on the towel next to the sink, and opened the door. I almost jumped in surprise at Alice, who was standing directly in front of the door, a bottle of antiseptic and a thick bandage in her hand. She handed them both wordlessly to me before turning around and walking in the direction of the living room. I closed the door again and quickly dressed my superficial wound, wondering why on earth she felt the need to give me such strong a strong antiseptic for a superficial scrape. It wasn't even bleeding anymore.

Once my task was completed, I made my way back into the living room, where the entire Cullen family had now congregated. And they were all staring at me. I looked around the room nervously and saw that an empty seat had been left for me next to Edward and Bella. I slowly made my way to the plush sofa and sat down, seriously nervous now.

The room was completely silent, and I was so anxious I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. As quickly as the near panic attack had come on, however, a sense of calm washed over me. It was so strange, but at that moment I felt okay. I knew that something was going on, but I wasn't worried anymore. I felt content, and…safe.

That gave me the confidence to ask the question I've asked multiple times that night, but never got a response to. "What the hell is going on?" I finally said, looking nervously around the room. "Where's Mike?"

Dr. Cullen was the first to speak. He was standing behind his wife, who sat in a comfortable arm chair on the other side of the room. "Jessica," he said, "before we have this conversation, I need you to know that you are safe here. Can you trust me when I say that we will do everything we can to make keep you and your friend out of danger?"

I felt my eyes narrow. Why should I trust them when they wouldn't even tell me what was going on?

"Jessica," I heard Bella say softly next to me. "Jessica, you can trust them. I promise, regardless of what they are about to tell you, you can trust them. They won't hurt you."

_They won't hurt you_. Why the hell did she just say that? I was never afraid that they would hurt me, but now she had me even more nervous than I was before. I noticed, from the corner of my eye, as Edward looked in Jasper's direction. Suddenly, the unnatural calm I felt intensified. I wasn't scare. At this moment, I was just curious.

I opened my mouth to agree. Instead of responding in the affirmative, however, a question that I had not intended to ask came out instead. It was as if my voice wasn't even my own. It was the real question I had been wondering all night. Actually, if I was being honest with myself, it was the question that I had wanted to ask ever since the Cullens moved to Forks.

"What are you?" If the room was silent before I asked the question, now it was as still as stone. I heard Bella take a sharp intake of breath, before burying her face in Edward's shoulder. Everyone else just sat completely still, their eyes wide and unblinking, staring in my direction.

Nobody spoke. The only sound came from another loud wolf's howl outside. It was close. I turned my head in the direction of the window, and was horrified to see the face of a giant animal gazing inside. In the time it took me to blink, to see if it was actually there or just a figment of my imagination, it was gone.

"You know what we are," Edward said. His voice sounded far away, even though he sat mere feet from where I was. I turned to look in his direction. Before I could open my mouth to say that I actually had no idea, he spoke again. "You do know, Jessica."

I thought for a moment about what he meant. I honestly thought that I had no idea. I looked around the room at the faces of the Cullen family. Though I had noticed it before, I didn't truly understand what it meant. It was their eyes. They all had the exact same color eyes. It was an unnatural color, one that made you look twice when seeing them individually. But now they were all together, and it was entirely disconcerting.

I tried to think of the other things I had noticed in the years. Anything unusual I had simply placed in the back of my mind, willing myself to forget, but now it flooded back to me. I remembered a few years ago when Dr. Cullen treated me for a broken wrist. His ice cold touch had been soothing to my aching wrist, but now, three years later, I realized how strange the sensation was. It was the exact same sensation as when Alice had grabbed my arm earlier. Her touch was cold and strong and smooth as marble. It wasn't natural.

They didn't eat. I had noticed that before too, when they just threw away the food on their trays at school. Bella was the only one who ever ate anything. And they skipped school. A lot. On sunny days, so they could go hiking and camping. But Rosalie didn't exactly look like a camper to me.

"You know," Edward said once again. It was like he knew exactly what was going through my head at the moment. Because I did know. I just hadn't said the words yet.

Everyone stared at me, but I saw none of them. I just saw Bella, curled up into Edward's side, her soft, rosy complexion a stark contrast to the ice cold, white skin that cradled her hand. She was so comfortable, looked so safe.

My throat was dry again, but I willed myself to speak. I wasn't afraid, though I knew I should be. The first time I opened my mouth, nothing came out. But I tried again. My second attempt was more successful than the first.

"Vampires."


	7. Chapter 6

So, it's been a while…but, I remembered how much I love this story. Hope that's alright…

Chapter 6

Bella's POV

Even I could hear Jessica's erratic heartbeat in the deadly silent room. Nobody was breathing. Other than the two of us who actually needed to breathe, however. It wasn't long after Jessica's realization that a silent call from Emmett told Edward, Jasper, and Carlisle that they were needed.

Edward lowered his mouth to my ear. "I need to go, but Alice and Esme will stay here with you," he whispered. I was so anxious and sad and tired that I didn't have the energy to question or fight him. I just nodded, and he kissed my hair lightly before getting up and leaving. As soon as he did, the emptiness I always felt when he was away immediately started sinking in. I was able to hold back the tears until after he left though, which I was thankful for. And it took less than ten seconds after he was out the door for Esme to replace his arms with hers and hold me close. I cried softly into her shoulder, ignoring Jessica's incredulous look as she took in the scene in front of her.

"It's okay my love," Esme whispered as she rubbed my back. "He'll be alright."

I looked up and her and knew that I must look just terrible. My cheeks and eyes were raw from crying, but she wiped my tears away gently. I suddenly felt so tired, but had no desire to move from my spot on the couch. I glanced to my left from the corner of my eye to see Jessica sitting up, completely straight, and looking ahead at nothing in particular. When she noticed that I was looking at her, she turned her head toward me.

"Bella?" I knew I should be comforting her just then, but I didn't know how. What could I possibly say to make it okay? She saw the tears in my eyes, but I knew that she had no idea what they were for. For all she knew, I was scared for my life. It was what any normal human would have though, but it had established long before then that I was no normal human.

Regardless, this was all my fault. And if my family was out there, cleaning up yet another mess that I had caused, the least thing I could do was to help things here.

However difficult it was, I somehow found it in me to smile at her. She just looked at me in surprise. "You still have leaves in your hair Jess," I said, reaching over to pick a few out. "Do you want to take a shower? I'm sure Alice has some clothes you can borrow." I looked over in the direction of my soon-to-be sister-in-law, who just nodded slightly and got up from her seat at a very human pace.

"I'm going to go out and do what I can," Esme said as I pulled myself, albeit unwillingly, from her arms. "But don't worry. None of us will be far, and Alice will stay here with you." With that, she kissed the top of my head and flitted gracefully to the front door.

Jess didn't get up to move, but instead stared at the door that Esme had just left from.

"I know, they move fast," I said, holding my hand out to Jessica, who just stared at it.

"They…" she said, trailing off before she could finish her sentence, though I knew what she must be thinking.

I knelt down in front of her, and took her hands in mine. I still remembered how I reacted when I had found out about the Cullens, and I knew that it was nothing at all how I should have reacted. I _should_ have been terrified. I should have run away from Edward, screaming. And while Jessica's reaction wasn't exactly normal either, it was probably much closer to that end of the spectrum than mine was.

"Jess, listen to me. You are safe. _They_ won't let anything happen to us. Now, why don't we get cleaned up and I will answer any questions that you have."

Her blank eyes looked into mine, and I finally saw realization there. She nodded, and let me lead her upstairs.


End file.
